Ball and socket type couplers are commonly used to couple a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle. Generally, the towing vehicle will include a ball hitch located somewhere on the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle to be towed includes a coupler housing that includes a socket for engaging the ball hitch. A latching mechanism is associated with the housing to retain the ball within the socket during towing.
Commonly, the latching mechanism will include a handle, or lever, that can be adjusted between and open position that permits the ball to be inserted and removed from the socket, and a closed position that retains the ball within the socket. Typically, a user must adjust the lever to the open position in order to place the socket in engagement with the ball.
For example, Ebey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,849 discloses a latching mechanism that has an adjustable lever pivotally connected to the socket housing. A shaft is pivotally connected to one end of the lever and extends downwardly into the housing and has a ball clamp fixed at its far end. The ball clamp is moved into and out of locking position by rotation of the lever. The ball hitch cannot be inserted into the housing when the lever is in the latched position. Therefore, user must adjust the lever into the open position in order to couple the housing to the ball, and then adjust the lever into the closed latched position in order to lock the ball in place within the housing.
Therefore, there exists a need for a ball coupler mechanism that will permit automatic latching of the ball within the coupler housing, without the need to adjust the latch mechanism to an open position and then to a closed position after the ball has been inserted.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a ball coupler mechanism that is self-latching.